


The Other Answer

by satindolphin052



Category: Outer Wilds (Video Game)
Genre: One Shot, Other, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-25 05:54:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21911059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/satindolphin052/pseuds/satindolphin052
Summary: They had to find the answer eventually,They knew it was coming for a long time.and now their fears are real, they are terrified.There must be another way... right?
Comments: 1
Kudos: 41





	The Other Answer

**Author's Note:**

> CW - Blood mention

Somehow they had managed to get this far.  
They had all the knowledge they needed. They had the route mapped out and marked on their ships navigator.  
They even had the advanced warp core humming gently on their lap.

But they were paralysed, hovering just outside of the Dark Bramble.  
Frozen in orbit around the cursed planet.

" **Why are you wasting time?** " A voice yells from inside their head " **You have to move!** "

Karst's breathing is heavy, their entire frame is shaking.  
They know every second is precious but they can't seem to make themself fly into the bulb of the villainous plant.

" **Time is running out!** " The voice yells.

A phantom pain ricochets around their body. Their vision blurs. They're crying.  
It takes everything for them to pry their hands off the ships controls. They try to wipe away the tears but more flood out to replace them.

" **You don't have time for this!** "

Karst pulls their face out of their hands to take another look at their mission. Something is different. The Moon is there.  
Something changes, taking over inside them.

Maybe there was another answer?

Karst composes themself as little as they can and steers towards the Quantum Moon.  
They've landed on it before. They know exactly what to do, it's like a reflex.

The Picture, the Landing, the Shrine, the Sixth location.

They slowly cross the equator, dragging their feet across the alien stone with each step.  
It was silent except for the cores slight buzzing and Karst’s gentle sobbing.  
Despite everything it feels... calmer... here.

They pause on the horizon, staring at the stranger waiting to meet them.  
Would she know what they were doing?  
Would she still be friendly?

" **Leave!** " The yelling returned " **You have to leave now!"**

Karst shook their head, desperate to dislodge the voice yelling inside.

" **You shouldn't have come here! You need to leave!** "

They took a step, and another, and then another.  
The stranger looked at them, and then to the object held in their trembling hands.  
She tilted her head in curiosity but said nothing.

Karst tried to say something- anything- but they couldn't hear themself think over the shouting inside their head.

" **Go back to the ship!** "

Karst holds out the warp core to Solanum.  
She taps her mask in thought before typing on her staff.  
Karst holds their breath waiting for her message.

[ _Is that not the Advanced Warp Core from the Ash Twin Project, why do you have it now?_ ]

[ _Do you wish to learn more about it? It's Poke's creation, it would be better to ask them_ ]

[ _Do you require it for something? You should speak to Yarrow, they are the project leader_ ]

Karst fumbles with the casing. Of course nothing she could say would be what they needed, they didn't even know what they needed themself.

The yelling returns, Karst flinches hard.

[ _My friend, are you alright?_ ] Solanum's message asks.

They both know Karst wouldn't be able to answer over the language barrier but Solanum had to show her concern.

Karst speaks quietly "No, no, no, I can't do it, I can't..." they repeat shaking their head.

She doesn't understand. Karst looks at the eyes of her mask, tears welling up in their own.  
She cautiously steps closer, Karst steps back.   
Their heart is racing, their mind is yelling, their body is shaking.

It's all far too much.

It shatters.

There's a rush of pain and everything stops.

The two of them look down, fragments of the warp core fall between them in slow motion, the volatile energy trapped inside dissipates into the thick air around them.  
All that's left are the pieces still tightly clenched in Karst's hands.

There are no answers for anything now.

The yelling has stopped, perhaps the realisation of what they've done shocked the voice into silence.  
Or perhaps they've learned to silence it after years of regret.

The shaking has stopped, Karst unfolds their fingers letting the last remains of the destroyed core drop to the ground.  
Deep coloured stains spread across the material of their gloves as thick blood oozes between the tears.

Solanum is the first to react.  
She reaches out and cups Karst's hand in her own, she rests her staff in the crook of her elbow and with her newly freed hand takes off the stained glove and begins to carefully remove the pieces of glass embedded in their skin.  
The shards pull out easily but Karst winces like they've been buried for days.

Solanum shoves aside the scraps on the ground with her boot and moves on to the other hand, flicking the bloody pieces to the pile as she removes them.

When she finishes Karst looks at their bare hands, turning them in front of their face and inspecting them from every angle. They were clean, the bleeding had stopped but the wounds weren't scabbed over.  
They fumble with their cuffs, pulling them down to make sure there wasn't any remaining fragments higher up their arms.  
They pause for a moment thinking, something was off. How could they take off their gloves.  
The Moon must have had some kind of atmosphere otherwise the air would be rushing out their sleeves and they'd be choking.  
They look down at themselves, did they take off their suit or were they never wearing one?  
Karst looks back at Solanum, they blink. Could they see her face or was it just their own reflected in her mask?

The uncertainty creeps into the space around them.

Everything feels disconnected.

They look at their hands, the broken pieces below them, the vortex above them, and the stranger in front of them.

Everything becomes a swirling mess in their vision, maybe they were suffocating? Or were they crying again?  
They raise their hand to their face to wipe away the tears only for it the bump their helmet.

Solanum is typing again. She steps back to the outcropping rocks and taps it with the end of her staff.

[ _My dear friend, I sincerely hope you are okay._ ]

[ _We might not be able to communicate effectively, but please if there is anything you could do..._ ]

[ _Please let me know you are okay._ ]

There's a desperation hidden between the words. The pain in her eyes is visible even through the thick mask that blocked out her emotions.  
It was only natural for her to be so anxious about her lifelong friend's wellbeing.

Karst has to say something to help ease her stress.  
Karst takes the staff from her and looks at the keys, none of them had any kind of label.  
They start pressing the buttons, their fingers homing in on the right letters out of instinct, or decades of practice.  
Karst taps the end of the staff to the adjacent outcrop unsure of what the message they've just written could say.

[ _I don't know how I feel_ ]

[ _I can't tell if anything just happened ... or if it just... happened_ ]

Solanum tips her head to the side again, she rereads the message thinking how to respond. She gestures for the staff.

[ _I fear we are both at the end of our journey now, For a long time I've had a hypothesis that I might not be entirely alive._ ]

[ _I think that has now happened to you as well_ ]

That seemed to make sense to Karst, or at least they thought it did. They tried to focus, they looked back down to their hands.  
The Moon seemed to playing tricks on them. Time was slack, Sight was an illusion, Emotions were amalgamated, Thoughts were vague.  
Nothing was real but at the same time nothing was surreal.

They try to remember something familiar, the feel of grass between their fingers or the warmth of fire across their palms.  
The smokey taste of fresh fish shared around the fire or the bitter taste of invasive sand filling their mouth.  
They sudder remembering one of the many deaths.  
They instinctively reach out and clasp Solanum's hands for comfort.  
It always felt wrong, her soft fur was much too fragile under their rough scales, but she never minded.

Karst is the first to speak, they don't recognise the sound as it exits their mouth.  
"I- I'm scared but-" their voice quivers as they struggle to form the sentence "it feels so- so peaceful here."  
They swallow hard, trying to think of what to say next.

"It's okay Karst," Solanum says interrupting their disarrayed thoughts.  
"You don't have to be scared, I'm here." She adds, gently squeezing their hands to help reassure them.

"Are- are we... dying?" The words leave a horrid aftertaste.

"I think it's safe to assume so, we have been outside of time for a long time now." She gives a half chuckle at the paradox in her statement.

Karst laughed slightly too, they'd always had the same sense of humour. 

"What happens now?" Karst’s voice steadies out.

"I can't say for certain, perhaps we can only wait until the universe ends."

Karst hated that. their closest friend, who was always so critical and astute, always had an answer for all of their questions.  
They look down at their entwined hands, The course fabric of their gauntlets seemed to bind to the rubber of Solanums gloves

"Can we hold onto the peace, for a moment?" Karst awkwardly shifts their grip to lace their fingers between hers.

Solanum nods, stepping closer and clasping tighter onto Karst’s hands.

They both take a deep breath, inhaling then exhaling, smoothly and deliberately.

The atmosphere around them slows, the sky calms and the rocks degrade.

Karst closes their eyes. they don't know if Solanum closes hers, it's most likely that she does.

They take another breath, inviting the stillness around them into their lungs.

They can almost feel each others heartbeat through their hands.

Karst's is slow and powerful, pounding in sync with every other beat of Solanum's delicate pumping.

Karst leans in closer, pressing their forehead to Solanum's.

Their wide brow fitting just right between the protrusions of her horns.

The space mixes between them, Karst exhales the hot ashen air from their lungs replacing it with Solanum's frigid icy breath.

They meditate together, fading with each respiration.

It starts at the very edge of themselves, the edge of their aura, and eventually their minds dilute into the existence, or lack of, around them.

They slow down, each exhale become slower and calmer than the last.

At the end of their last perpetual breath they are no more.

No more Fear.

No more Peace.

No more Regret.

No more Love.

Nothing.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to Psiidmon and AurumVerax for checking through this for me <3


End file.
